Organizing for Action Joins New York Fair Elections Campaign

The campaign for Fair Elections in New York got a big boost this week when Organizing for Action (OFA), the reconfigured Obama for America campaign, announced it would join the Fair Elections for New York coalition in pushing to pass comprehensive campaign reform in the state this year.

In an email to its 744,000 New York supporters, OFA’s Lindsay Siler wrote, “This is a historic opportunity to give New Yorkers the campaign finance system they want and deserve—one that OFA supporters in New York have said they want to be a part of. Governor Cuomo is leading a coalition of organizations across the state—battle-tested grassroots supporters like you are going to help them get the job done.”

Public Campaign Action Fund’s (PCAF) David Donnelly praised OFA for joining the effort: "We are excited to have Organizing for Action and their tens of thousands of grassroots volunteers join in the campaign to pass Fair Elections in New York, and we are grateful for the work they'll do with us in every corner of the state to build the public momentum to win."

Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action of New York, said the announcement brings "unstoppable momentum" to the campaign.

On Wednesday night, OFA Executive Director Jon Carson, PCAF’s Donnelly, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman spoke on a conference call for OFA’s grassroots activists.

"Victory is within our grasp," Schneiderman told OFA’s supporters on the call, noting that a reform package isn’t real reform unless it includes public financing of elections similar to New York City’s matching funds system.

And OFA’s New York organizer Kate Stevens provided more details on how they are going to help the campaign. "We're going to be organizing house parties, we're going to be doing educational forums and really try to reach out to all of our friends and neighbors to talk about this important issue as well as others," she said.

OFA's announcement came just two weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke at two high-profile events to support Fair Elections--a lunch with business leaders in New York City and a tele-townhall with hundreds of grassroots activists.

The momentum to pass legislation this year is building. Want to join the campaign? Visit FairElectionsNY.org to learn more.